Customer Reviews

Frankie Avalon - 25 All Time Greatest Hits

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Avalon is often relegated to the status of pretty-boy teen-idol who, along with Fabian, Bobby Rydell and others, stood in for Elvis during his residency in the Army. But listening to this 25-track collection, it's clear that there was never any intention (by either Avalon or his management) to position the crooner as a rock 'n' roller. These hit singles, B-sides and non-charting album tracks show him to be a balladeer through-and-through; a handsome, capable pop Sinatra (though, surprisingly, Avalon fashioned himself more after Perry Como).

His first two hits, 1958's "De De Dinah" and "Ginger Bread" featured a nasal delivery that was dropped on the romantic follow-up, "I'll Wait For You." The ensuing string of hits, peaking with the chart-topping "Venus" and continuing through 1962's "You Are Mine," displayed tremendous charm. Non-threatening charm, to be sure -- how worried could parents be about a singer who covered "Tuxedo Junction"? -- but charm, nonetheless.

It's no surprise that Avalon was a favorite with adolescent girls (and a bane to the boys who chased them), singing puppy-love fare such as "Just Ask Your Heart," "Why," and "Too Young To Love," as well as romantic dreams like "A Perfect Love." Even the pathos of "Don't Let Love Pass Me By" was aimed more squarely at stirring his fans' romantic daydreams than motivating their pity.

The hit singles "Bobby Sox to Stockings" and "A Boy Without a Girl" (#8 and #10 A- and B-side of the same single!) are smoothly arranged, with polished backing vocals and polite drums that push the tempo without becoming raucous. The Don Costa arranged "You Are Mine" is spectacularly dramatic, and the sophisticated horn charts of "Swingin' on a Rainbow" lean to the Bobby Darin side of Las Vegas.

As the '50s turned into the '60s, Avalon's music followed him into his burgeoning film career. The title song from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" wasn't a hit, but features a fantastic production to accompany the movie's plot. And closing this collection are a pair of tunes, "Beach Party" and "Don't Stop Now," from Avalon's first AIP beach party film. (Sadly missing is his stupendous turn as The Potato Bug, a fictional British Invasion pop star, from the film "Bikini Beach.").

The twenty-five tracks expand upon Varese's earlier collection, 1995's "The Best of Frankie Avalon," making this a significantly more complete anthology of Avalon's original sides. Those looking for more early material can fill in non-hit tracks with See for Miles' "The EP Collection."

This is a great cd set. People think this is just an expanded version of Varese's last Frankie Avalon cd set, theyre highly mistaken.

The tracks on this cd were ALL taken from the original first generation tapes where available, the master they used for Venus on this cd corrects the dropouts found on ALL previous cds, and the tape they used for this cd hadn't been played in over 40 years.

This cd also has some tracks in first time stereo, plus the very first cd issue of the original hit 45 rpm version of Two Fools. The later stereo version (which sounds totally different, but probably recorded around the same time) is on plenty of other cds, and varese was going to use it for this cd until myself and a few others persueded them to use the original 45 version.

At the time, I had been told that no 3-track tape exists for the original 45 version, so i assumed at the time that they were going to go with the mono version of the song because of it. When the discussion of using the mono hit vs. the stereo remake, the people who asked for the true 45 version on cd were given a lot of crap from those who wanted to have the song in stereo on the cd.

Well, the original 45 version of Two Fools made it onto this cd. That alone should make this cd worth buying as the 45 version is definitely superior to the later stereo re-recording. As an added bonus the 45 version does actually appear in a narrowed 2-track stereo mix, which should make the cd a winner for both those who wanted the 45 version on cd, and those who wanted the song in stereo on cd.

If you purchase this cd, there is not a need for any other Frankie Avalon hits package. If you own any other Frankie Avalon hits packages, throw them out and buy this one.

Outstanding collection, with long forgotten gems like "Young and In Love," "Where Are You," "You Are Mine," and "Beach Party." Venus" was so successful that it overshadowed Avalon's other work, but many of his other songs are masterpieces of '60's pop!

One of the best Frankie Avalon CD collection of songs.Frankie Avalon is no ordinary singer.Frankie Avalon is best when singing romantic songs with his boy next door pleasant friendly winning way.You should have pleasure enjoying this CD if you like Frankie then buy it you should enjoy it.They should release more Frankie Avalon songs in CD.Frankie Avalon should record the song "Unforgettable".

For anyone who enjoys Frankie Avalon, 50s music, or the old American Bandstand, this CD is for you. This collection has a lot of the slower-paced Frankie Avalon songs, but also includes a couple of songs from the Beach Party movies. The recording quality is very good for the entire CD - no signs of scratches or pops - making it sound like Frankie's singing live. My only "complaint" is that the song "Beach Party", which was sung as a duet in the corresponding movie by both Frankie and Annette, on this CD, it's only sung by Frankie and it only has his harmony part with some random guys singing backup.

Other than that, crank up the jukebox and pull out those saddle shoes and get ready for a trip down memory lane!!

Frankie Avelon was one of the best. His song "Venus" is to this day one of the prettiest recordings ever made.

I grew up listening to the Frankie Avalon album, "A Whole Lotta Frankie" on a vinyl LP. I still have that original record, but have recently sought CD copies of some of the records in my collection. "25 All Time Greatest Hits" contains all but one of the songs on the original "A Whole Lotta Frankie" LP. All that is missing is "Talk, Talk, Talk".

The recordings on the CD are all from the original master tapes. Unlike the vinyl LP, many of these have been mixed in stereo. This is a good quality CD that will satisfy any Frankie Avalon fan.

This CD provides all of the best "oldies" from Frankie! Even if you didn't catch his 2007 performances, you'll be happy to hear these favorites again and again. Now, if he would only give us a CD of the old standards as his contemporaries have done, we'd have the best of both music worlds!

Want to turn back the hands of time. This will do it

A wonderful cd! I was searching for a song I never heard before that was on the season finale of United States of Tara, "All of Everything" 1961. This cut and the rest are a delicious slice of the 50's and 60's, recommended.